Coffee Pot 8/26/11

Chris Wallis and I rocked San Marcos, TX tonight for a two-hour long set. This was a somewhat experimental show to see what kind of songs we might like to do as a duo. I had a great time, and Chris really showed what cool grooves could do to some classic tunes. I'm excited to work on this project with him, and I hope to see a bunch of you at our next show. BTW- Great food and coffee tonight at the Coffee Pot! If you get a chance, go have a sandwich...

AJ's Ale House 8/25/11

I played in New Braunfels, TX with Joel Duhon on drums for a night of requests from the crowd. We played a little bit of everything, and seeing as how this was the first time I'd met Joel, much less played with him, it went great! He is rock-solid and was very easy to work with. I definitely gave him a bunch of different styles to play, and he tackled them with ease. The crowd grew as the night went on, and by the end, they were wanting us to play all night. Again, another fun show at AJ's!

AJ's Ale House 8/19/11

Tonight, I played for the first time with drummer Mikey Gammon (who is great, btw) at the cool club in New Braunfels, TX. About the last thing I think you should do when you have a terrible head cold is to sing for three hours, but I did anyway, and Mikey was great about singing some high notes spontaneously. We slammed through a whole slew of requests, and on "Brown Eyed Girl" I asked Mikey a question, and when I looked over to get his answer, I realized I caught him on auto-pilot while he was watching a TV show where they were trying to get a shark off a boat and back in the water! We laughed about the Big Fish for the rest of the night!

AJ's Pub 8/18/11

Other than the persistent requests by one man for the Scorpions, all of the tunes were cool tonight that the people wanted to hear in New Braunfels, TX. The "Scorpions" guy was cool, too, but for some reason, he thought I was just holding out on him. Finally, I convinced him that I really never listened to them, so he requested a bunch of Elvis songs, and the night was a success. Joe Resnick played drums tonight and made the evening way more entertaining for me and the crowd! I had the end of a cold I was getting over, so I was worried I wouldn't be able to sing, but the more I played, the better I felt. Ah, the healing power of music!

Navasota Blues Fest 8/13/11

I drove in from Texarkana to meet up with Rob Roy Parnell, Coffeeboy, Pat Whitefield, and Chris Wallis to perform at the two-day blues Fest in Navasota, TX tonight. What a great show! All the guys were on their game, and we really kept the crowd dancing. The gig was great, but I wish we could've played another couple of hours. My wife took some great photos of us, and she did so while watching our little dachshund, Sammy! Before we took the stage, I had a chance to listen to a cool piano player (and his band) named David Egan. He really knew his stuff, and I've been listening to his CDs on our drive back to San Marcos. Good stuff!

Location:Grimes County Fairgrounds, Navasota, Texas

Zydeco's 8/11/11

It was great to be able to visit with all of my friends and family tonight in Mooresville, IN while also getting a chance to play with a couple of my favorite musicians (and great friends) Steve Brunner on drums, and Bill Ritter on bass. Zydeco's was packed, and Deb and Carter made everyone feel great, as usual. I do miss the fun shows at Zydeco's, and of course, the food! We had a terrific crowd as we played through a bunch of New Orleans tunes and my original songs. I hope to get back to Mooresville again sometime soon!

Lakeview Manor 8/10/11

After Bill Ritter and I performed for the kids at the daycare, we drove to Lakeview Manor to perform for the residents. My 101-year-old grandmother was in attendance as we played for about an hour. All of the folks seemed to really enjoy the songs we performed. Some of them sang along to the tunes they knew, and the rest danced in their seats as we played some 50's rock. Fun day of gigging!

SUMC Childcare 8/10/11

I was reunited with bassist Bill Ritter today in Speedway, IN for a show at the daycare. We had them up dancing, singing, and playing a few notes on our instruments within our first couple of tunes. The kids always like it when we play Spongebob Squarepants, and we always like playing songs for them!

Evangeline Cafe 7/30/11

Excellorators at Evangeline Cafe, a photo by Dan Holmes Group on Flickr.

The Excellorators took over the awesome New Orleans cuisine restaurant in Austin, TX for an evening of Chicago-style blues tonight. I enjoyed listening to the guitar solos by both Steve and Mike tonight. Both seemed to be on their game, and each seemed to be inspired by the other. Cool venue, great food and good blues made for a fun time!

Cypress Creek Cafe 7/29/11

Rob Roy Parnell at Cypress Creek Cafe, a photo by Dan Holmes Group on Flickr.

Brothers shared a show tonight in Wimberley, TX as Rob Roy and Lee Roy Parnell did back-to-back shows. I performed with Rob, and had fun locking in with Pat on bass, Chris on drums, and Coffeeboy on guitar. We played about an hour-long set of Rob's original material, then switched out for Lee Roy's set. Everyone sounded great tonight, and the house definitely was rocking!

Gruene Hall 7/17/11

Performing at the legendary Gruene Hall, a photo by Dan Holmes Group on Flickr.

Gruene, TX was rocking tonight with Rob Roy Parnell! We ran through all of Rob's tunes, and I sang a couple of mine through the corse of the early evening show. The place was crowded, as usual, and it was hot, also as usual. It didn't stop us from playing our hardest until the sun went down! Thanks goes out to my wonderful wife, Christine, for taking some cool shots of the band for us!

AJ's Alehouse 7/14/11

AJ's Alehouse in New Braunfels, TX, a photo by Dan Holmes Group on Flickr.

New Braunfels, TX tonight re-teamed me with a great drummer, Joe Resnick, who, the last time I saw him, was a witness to the worst gig I've ever had. Tonight, I feel redeemed! I had such a great time playing for the people and playing with Joe. The best requests of the evening, you may ask? "Summer In The City" and "She Caught The Katy". Love those tunes.

The Coffee Pot 7/8/11

The Coffee Pot in San Marcos, TX, a photo by Dan Holmes Group on Flickr.

Friday evening in San Marcos, TX was fun. The crowd grew and became very interactive as I performed as many songs as I could, some of which using the help of a drum machine app on my iPad. I made a few new fans, and they seemed to enjoy my tunes. As an added bonus for the evening, the Coffee Pot had their piano fixed up so it played like it was almost new! Yay!

Go Dance 7/1/11

Go Dance 7/1/11, a photo by Dan Holmes Group on Flickr.

The Excellorators played the blues for a huge dance group in north Austin, TX for a few hours tonight. I had a great time watching all of the twirling people have fun dancing to our tunes. Chris, Pat, Mike, Ted and Steve made it easy for me to just relax and play some piano by laying down some cool grooves. Those dancers were going before they got there, and I heard they aren't going to quit until 5am! Wow!!!

Tantra Coffeehouse 6/30/11

Solo piano show at Tantra Coffeehouse, a photo by Dan Holmes Group on Flickr.

A surprise last-minute show at Tantra in San Marcos, TX was a blast tonight! I downloaded a cool drum machine app for my iPad, so I used it heavily during my show. It was awesome to have some old-school drumbeats behind all of my originals. Also, as an added bonus, the crowd was hypnotized by the funky beats, and they couldn't stop dancing. I had a great time, and I hope to be back soon!

Baker's St. Pub 6/26/11

The Excellorators in Austin, TX, a photo by Dan Holmes Group on Flickr.

I joined the Excellorators in Austin, TX today to perform some old-school blues. For some reason, there were almost as many dogs in the crowd as there were people. I think the weather was nice enough that everyone just decided at the same time that their Fido should come hear some blues, too. Ted Roddy had another commitment, so he showed up second set to blow some harp, so the first set was left to Steve, Mike and I to sing. Good times!

Taxi's 6/23/11

Drumming at Taxi's, a photo by Dan Holmes Group on Flickr.

Taxi Haskell's wife went into labor tonight, so I rushed to his club in San Marcos to fill in for him on drums until his sub could get there. I played from about 11:15p-12:45a, then I turned the sticks over to a drummer who knew his stuff! Danny was on piano the whole night, and he sounded great, doing all of the requests from the crowd.

A big congratulations to Taxi and his wife & new baby!!!

Central Market 6/22/11

Central Market in Austin, TX, a photo by Dan Holmes Group on Flickr.

I had fun performing with Rob Roy Parnell and the fellas tonight at Central Market in Austin, TX. Because the room is mostly glass and metal, we were able to play very quietly and really lock in to each other tonight. The gig went off without a hitch, and I look forward to the next show at Central Market. As an added bonus, Stefano Intelisano (Jason Mraz' piano player) came in and sat in with the band for a couple of songs, and of course sounded great. I would like to thank my wife for taking some pictures while we played!

Taxi's 6/20/11

Taxi Haskell and I played for a bit this evening because his Monday night entertainment fell ill. Always a good time at Taxi's! I found out tonight that I've been telling people the wrong name for his newly re-named bar. It used to be "J's Bistro" and I thought he changed it to "Taxi's Bistro", but really it's just "Taxi's". Oops. Anyway, tonight we decided to run through songs alphabetically until we decided to stop.

We made it through the letter "i".

Gruene Hall 6/20/11

Rob Roy rocked Gruene, TX tonight! We had a great crowd, and the ones who weren't dancing on the big old dance floor were dancing in their seats. Pat couldn't make it, so Dave Wesselowski filled in on bass. I really dig his bass playing! Coffeeboy was on fire on guitar, and Chris made sure the beat stayed solid. Fun show! Thanks to all the new fans who introduced themselves to me tonight...I appreciate you!